Nibbles #30
The history of advent calendars, Bulgarian breakfast doughnuts, and my 15-minute recipe for Chinese Tofu and Eggs.
Welcome to Nibbles where once a month I share everything brilliant I’ve been reading on the web as well as some general updates from my kitchen, my vegetable garden during the growing season, and other miscellaneous ‘you really need to know about’ updates.
Sorry I’ve been a bit quiet these last few weeks - it seems every time I go to a wedding (the last time being September 2023) I get very, very sick. But, I’m back on my feet and back in the kitchen, and as well as this delayed edition of Nibbles, I’ve also got a post coming up with my foolproof formula for making the perfect sickness soup from whatever you’ve got in your fridge / cupboards.
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Claire teaches us all about (and how to make!) mekitsi, flat, delicious-looking Bulgarian breakfast doughnuts:
Jolene shares the history of advent calendars (chocolate or otherwise) as well as one of my favourite German festive baking recipes from my favourite festive baking book:
Speaking of Christmas, Julia digs into the history of cloves, and teaches us how to make a proper clove pomander:
It’s been a big recipe month, and I’ve got a good mix of festive and not for you all. Starting over on my blog I’ve got two brand new weeknight dinners, both of which have been super popular and are great for those days where you can’t eat festive treats every day: Butter Roasted Cherry Tomato and Salmon Pasta, and my 15-minute Chinese Tofu and Eggs (a real keeper, that one!)
I’ve also got a trio of brand new seasonal recipes up on the Borough Market website, a Slow Cooked Beef Shin Tagliatelle where the real key ingredient is time (but once you’ve made the two day recipe it yields freezer dinners for days!), a recipe for Braised Red Cabbage with Pomegranate Molasses, a little upgrade on the seasonal classic but not so much so that it tastes out of place with a weekend roast, and a recipe for Cauliflower Cheese with Fessili Goat’s Cheese & Gruyère which was a real challenge to write (I’m not supposed to eat most cheeses) but which I’m super proud of: it’s designed to be a side dish, to be interesting by itself but not punchy enough like cheddar versions to overwhelm everything else on the plate.
Finally, for my residency at Macknade, more cheese in the form of my Gruyère Cheese Fondu (you can tell which cheeses I can actually just about stomach, can’t you!!) which will make a great sharing starter for friends and guests this season.
Most of my TV picks have a serious message or top tier writing and storytelling behind them… but The Diplomat on Netflix is just a big of bonkers fun, a total counter-balance to House of Cards which we’re re-watching at the moment. The storylines following a slightly unconventional pick for the US ambassador to London arriving in post stretch the realms of credibility whilst actually being some seriously gripping television with good acting (it’s got an exceptionally strong cast) to curl up with and relax with. I binged the second season earlier in the month, and I challenge anyone who has not seen the last few minutes of the season not to be desperate for next year’s instalment already. I’ve watched almost every political drama out there, as well as, you know, I’ve worked in actual politics and I don’t think I could have seen that coming!
…and hope you’re feeling much better! xx
Thank you so much, Rachel! xx